April 21 news

Published by jwettschreck on Monday, April 21st, 2014

WORTHINGTON - The 10th Street Elevator at the Nobles County Government Center will be taken down for a rebuild on Tuesday. It is expected to be about a four week project. This will affect getting up to Public Health, Veterans Services and Administration offices and down to Extension and everything on the lower level. Staff and visitors will need to use the stairs.

Veterans who are unable to use the stairs may check in at the Recorder’s office and the Veteran’s Service Officer will meet with them in an office on the main floor.

WORTHINGTON - Water main and sanitary sewer work on Nobles Street from Highway 60 to Orchard Road is scheduled to begin Tuesday, according to the City of Worthington Engineering Department. Nobles Street will be closed to through traffic.

Through traffic will be detoured to TH 60, CSAH 35 and CSAH 5. When possible, Nobles Street will be open to restricted local traffic for driveway access. Access will alternate from the TH 60 or CSAH 5 ends of Nobles Street as construction progresses from TH60 towards Orchard Road.

Weather permitting and construction proceeding as planned, Nobles Street pipe and pavement work should be completed and normal traffic restored in early June.

WORTHINGTON — The Community Improvement Committee of the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce and the city of Worthington will host an Arbor Day ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Each year, the committee works with the city to select a location where a tree will be planted during the program. A tree will be planted this year at the Center for Active Living, 211 11th St. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. A proclamation will be read by Mayor Pro Tem Ron Wood.

ST PAUL - The Minnesota Department of Commerce will hold public information meetings to provide opportunities for public comment regarding a proposed Minnesota to Iowa transmission line. The Department of Commerce recently released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed 345 kilovolt transmission line.

Meetings will take place in Fairmont on Tuesday, April 22 from 1 to 6pm at the Knights of Columbus Hall, in Jackson on Wednesday, April 23 from 1 to 6pm at the National Guard Armory and in Blue Earth on Thursday, April 24th from 1 to 6pm at Hamilton Hall.
Department staff will make a brief presentation at each meeting. Following the presentation, members of the public will have the opportunity to provide comments.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is available for viewing at the public libraries in Jackson, Lakefield, Sherburn, and Fairmont.

SHELDON, Iowa — A Rock Valley teen has been arrested on a trespassing charge after Sheldon Police Officers investigated a complaint.

On Wednesday, April 16, 2014, the Sheldon Police Department received information from a resident that they had found a video camera outside of their daughter’s window of their Sheldon home. Later on Wednesday, the resident called to report that the suspect had been caught after he had returned to the home in an attempt to retrieve the camera and was being detained there. Officers arrested 19-year-old Cody Michael Van Otterloo of Rock Valley, Iowa, on a trespassing charge. Van Otterloo was transported to the O’Brien County Jail.

The next day, Thursday, April 17, 2014, a search warrant was executed at Van Otterloo’s home at in Rock Valley, by officers from the Sheldon Police Department and the Rock Valley Police Department. Officers seized a number of items with potential evidentiary value from the home, including his phone, computers, and other electronic storage devices. These items will be analyzed at a future date. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

ROCK VALLEY, Iowa — If your daily commute involves taking Highway 18 west of Highway 75 or using Highway 18 in Rock Valley, your commute is about to get a little longer.

Rock Valley City Administrator Tom Van Maanen says that Highway 18 in Rock Valley is about to become like Highway 18 in Sheldon — three lanes, with a dedicated turning lane as the center lane. Van Maanen says it is a city project, using DOT grants.
According to Van Maanen, there will be two different detours, and they’re both scheduled to start on Tuesday, April 21st. The project will have three phases and each local traffic detour in Rock Valley will be different.

Van Maanen says the first phase, which is the smallest should be done in 35 days. There is a September 26th completion date, with a bonus every day the work is done earlier than that.

MANKATO - One person is dead and three others were wounded in a shooting outside the Kato Entertainment Center in Mankato early Sunday morning, following an event for a student group from Minnesota State University.

The crowd was just leaving the event when the shooting took place, according to a statement released Sunday evening by Tania Cordes, owner of the Kato Entertainment Center. She said the event was a party for the South Sudanese Group at MSU. About 140 people attended, and no alcohol was served at the event, she said.

The four shooting victims were taken to a hospital, where one of them died. The other three were treated for what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Police arrested one suspect connected to a handgun that was recovered at the scene, and two others were arrested for obstruction of legal process.

Mankato Police Commander Jeremy Clifton said police were investigating a number of people to determine if there was more than one shooter. He added they do not believe this was a random act and are confident there is no further danger to the public.
The names of the victims have not been released. Clifton said police are trying to contact family members and determine if those family members may be at risk.